Publications cited throughout this disclosure are incorporated in their entirety herein by reference.
Various synthetic small organic molecules that are biologically active and generally known in the art as “fused pyrrolocarbazoles” have been prepared (See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,475,110; 5,591,855; 5,594,009; and 5,616,724). In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 5,705,511 discloses fused pyrrolocarbazole compounds which possess a variety of functional pharmacological activities. The fused pyrrolocarbazoles were disclosed to be used in a variety of ways, including: enhancing the function and/or survival of cells of neuronal lineage, either singularly or in combination with neurotrophic factor(s) and/or indolocarbozoles; enhancing trophic factor-induced activity; inhibition of protein kinase C (“PKC”) activity; inhibition of trk tyrosine kinase activity; inhibition of proliferation of a prostate cancer cell-line; inhibition of the cellular pathways involved in the inflammation process; and enhancement of the survival of neuronal cells at risk of dying.
The present inventors have found that certain selected fused pyrrolocarbazoles selected from the generic formulas of U.S. Pat. No. 5,705,511 but not specifically disclosed therein possess surprising and unexpected biological activities compared to the compounds described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,705,511.